Friday the 13th Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources

I’m happy today, because both I and my son are Friday the 13th babies. It’s my lucky day, and I always find a way to celebrate! Why not share in the celebration with me by checking out some of these free articles, webinars, podcasts, e-guides, cheat sheets and reports? Pour yourself a beverage of your choice; then settle in for a good read or a listen.

It’s my pleasure to curate content for you across the web – all with the goal of helping you in your quest to facilitate passionate philanthropy. I couldn’t do this without the support of my 2018 sponsor, Bloomerang, so please join me in sending them a virtual shout out and hearty thank you!

P.S. I’ve got lots more wisdom to share, and hope you’ll take advantage this year. Clairification School gives you a full year of tips! If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined.

Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…

Content Marketing

Click-it: 3 Tips to Improve Your Newsletter. Vanessa Chase Lockshin of The Storytelling Nonprofit makes it simple for you to tweak and improve your processes so you see a return on your investment.

Click-it: How Vulnerability Increases Connection and Fundraising. Do you fail to share your organization’s most powerful stories due to concerns of “client confidentiality?” If so, read this newsletter article from Renee Rubin Consulting and ask yourself: Who am I really protecting? By not sharing your most compelling stories, you fail to generate the passionate investment that will give these stories happy endings. There are ways to share honorably. Contact me if you want to discuss.

Online Fundraising

Online Social Marketing

Click-it: How Twitter is Changing the Rules for Social Media Marketing On March 27, 2018, Twitter changed the rules of automated posting, sharing, liking and following in order to combat misuse of their platform by malicious players. Melanie Tamble explains what happened on the Maximize Social Business blog, and gives you seven strategies for coping with these inevitable changes to social media marketing.

Click-it: Facebook Group Features. Facebook has recently shifted its focus to groups. In this article for the Maximize Social Business blog, social media marketing expert Nikhil Premanandan discusses how you might consider using Facebook Groups as a tool for building relationships with your constituents.

Overhead vs. Investment

Click-it: Overheads or Investment? A New Perspective on Nonprofit “Admin” Costs. In the ongoing challenge to demonstrate that, yes, investing in fundraising does result in more money going towards the cause – a “bigger pie” – Lee Durbin offers a thoughtful article on the Holly Palmer Consulting blog with a concrete case example. I’ll add that you must invest to grow. When you deliberately starve yourself to “look good,” aren’t you really acting anorexic? Just saying… it’s a bit pathological.

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The more you learn, the more you grow.

Finding webinars you’d like to attend that overlap? Note that for many of these webinars you can obtain a copy of the recording if you’re unable to join live – as long as you register!

Management and Strategy

Click-it: 2018 Modern Donor Contours Research [Download free report]. Did you know donors under the age of 72 are more likely to learn about you through online research than from a mailing you send to them? This report from COHORT3 reveals just how much donors have seized control of the giving process. They operate largely on their own timeline, within their preferred channels. Only 9% say materials sent by the charity triggered their first gift!

Social Media

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Enroll in ‘Clairification School’to get access to every single article I’ve ever written – with new ones delivered weekly straight to your in-box! You’ll also get free monthly tips from your own “My Clairification” dashboard.

Engaging your help was such a huge pivot moment for me and the Board. We would never – not in a million years – have even dreamed of doing a significant challenge at our event without all of the teaching, support, resources and guidance that you brought to us. Sometimes there are these moments in life that you only realize in retrospect were miracles – and that is exactly how I look back at that decision to work with you on our fundraising engine!

Claire Axelrad has been a highly effective fundraiser for over 30 years and her blog is just a wealth of wisdom. What’s particularly notable about Clairification is that although the work is based on decades of past experience, Claire is always looking forward as well. She was the first among her veteran fundraising peers to embrace online and social fundraising and is now one of their most sensible and insightful proponents. She’s a great resource!

You have been absolutely terrific to work with. Your roadmap and assessment of where we are and where we can go has been so instrumental in having the board stop and think about our future. Your audit is allowing us to move forward in tangible ways to improve our work so that we may help more clients in need of our services. I will count you among my many blessings throughout the year.

I’m subscribed to a million fundraising blogs and the one I consistently open and read most of, is yours. The content is always carefully curated and helpful, not just sales pitch after sales pitch for your own stuff. You stand out, in a good way.

You are one of the few fundraising experts that I read faithfully, and we have no shortage of those who publish regularly. But your material is always thoughtful and realistic. Thank you for your candor and good advice.

I read your newsletter all the time and find your advice “spot on” and always usable. I pass it on consistently to the staff and other board members. I really appreciate all you do to help nonprofits. Thanks.

You remind me about what is most important and why I love this profession. I just discovered you and your blog about three weeks ago and I wanted to write today to say thank you for sharing your wisdom and expertise. I find your posts, new and old, so spot on. You nail it.

Everybody involved in philanthropy should read these articles slowly and with a very opened mind and a willingness to take from them the necessary components to change the manner and techniques we presently use in order to embrace what philanthropy is all about “Love”. I have no doubt it would be transformational.

I came across your website and I hit the goldmine! I was asked to join a board and found I need to understand how to build a donor base from the ground up. I searched, only to find expensive consultants or free info that didn’t offer any helpful information. Thank you for sharing so much valuable information!!

Wow! Inspiration out the wazoo! Many thanks — I keep up with trends and lots of blog-posts to stay on top of my game. This goes way beyond technique and reaches deep inside to remind me why I’ve done this work for 40 years!

Thank you for your brilliant blog. I have been a follower for many years and learnt so much from you. Ultimately, it translates into many more families getting the support they deserve. You help me raise more money for my UK charity. Please never stop bringing the best out of me! You’re special.

Exactly what our profession can use – clarification –- the title of your blog. You help us keep faith with the past while making sense of the present and future. You have a balanced and respectful understanding of what this is all about. Thanks.

I’d recommend you sign up. I signed up for about a dozen blogging fundraiser consultants, but have since canceled most. She’s one of two left standing. I like how she organizes her thoughts about fundraising, and her conversation planning techniques are very familiar to me from my work as a prosecutor. I believe that she was a practicing attorney and who changed careers like I have, and my best guess is that she was a litigator as well. This is a very good article and there are several other blogs (her own) that she links to within it, so even though this is a small article you could spend some time here.

Created by fundraisers for fundraisers, Bloomerang makes it easy for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes to build and manage donor relationships key to long-term success. -Claire

When Claire speaks, we listen. There are few consultants in the nonprofit sector who so closely align with Bloomerang's focus on donor stewardship and retention. The Clairification School provides too much value to ignore!

Check out their state-of-the-art marketing solutions and technology focused on major and legacy gift qualification and cultivation.-Claire

There are plenty of resources online, but you know the old adage, "you get what you pay for." Skip the "same old" blog posts, and head to Clairification School to get relevant, timely, and most importantly effective resources today.

Firespring offers beautiful websites with an integrated marketing, software and fundraising suite—all you need to make life easier for you and your supporters.-Claire

Claire’s fresh perspective and unwavering approach to instill new ideas, techniques and proven practices are but a few reasons why Clarification School is a tremendous resource.

Clairification School offers a wealth of information and knowledge; Claire communicates so clearly and simply that even brand-new concepts are easy to grasp and put into practice.

Helping nonprofits raise more money online for more than 20 years through one of the easiest-to-use and most affordable fundraising platforms available.-Claire

Claire Axelrad is one of the smartest philanthropy coaches we know. Take advantage of her expertise by enrolling in the Clairification School. You'll gain a wealth of knowledge to take your fundraising to the next level.